Major enterprises won’t invest in B.C. under an NDP government and taxpayers will be left to pay the bill, warns Linda Larson, the local Liberal candidate in the coming provincial election.
“The NDP have no business experience at all,” says the Oliver grandmother, who was selected to run as the Liberal candidate in Boundary-Similkameen after current MLA John Slater was squeezed out by the party over a personal matter.
“Government is a business and it has to be run like a business,” continues Larson. “You do not spend more than you take in. The only people that have that type of business experience are the B.C. Liberals.”
Larson’s views about the role of the provincial government put her at sharp odds from the NDP, her main opponents, who only nominated their candidate Sam Hancheroff on Saturday. Chosen by her party in January, Larson has had a head start to get her campaign organized.
Running in a provincial election was not something the long-time Oliver municipal politician ever planned to do. Larson served as Oliver’s mayor from 1997 to 2005 and is currently a town councillor, although she’ll be taking an unpaid leave of absence during the provincial election.
“As I’ve explained to a lot of people, this was not on my bucket list,” said Larson of her decision to run provincially. “This is not something that I had planned as part of my life. It was just a matter of circumstances.”
She was asked to run by some party members, including Slater, she said, before Slater reconsidered and decided to run again after all.
“It’s something that I committed to, and I will give it 100 per cent, but if for some reason this doesn’t pan out my way, I am not going to be folded up in a corner somewhere,” she said, adding that she has lots of volunteer work to keep her busy.
The province needs industry and investment to provide new jobs and pay the bills, Larson believes. If the NDP comes to power, she said, the investment that has already occurred will “go downhill very rapidly” as enterprises refuse to invest under an NDP government.
“I’m trying to save the taxpayer here,” she said. “The only way the taxpayer doesn’t have to personally pay for all this stuff is if we have that major investment and industry to offset the cost to our taxpayers for health care, education and social services.”
One local project where a partnership with private business should be looked at is expansion of the Penticton Regional Hospital, she said.
The hospital definitely needs improvements because it is old and was built for a much smaller population, she said.
“It will be rebuilt, there’s no doubt about that in my mind at all,” said Larson. “My biggest concern would be as a taxpayer, who is going to pay for this?”
The regional district has committed $120 million, and the other $160 million would need to come from the province, but many people forget that local residents also pay provincial taxes, she said.
“It’s going to mean a jump in taxes to people, and not a little jump. A big jump. So I want to make sure that we get this hospital, but I also want to make sure that the impact on the taxpayer is as minimal as possible,” she said.
The answer, she added, isn’t to delay the project, but rather to get money for it from a source other than the taxpayer’s pocket. And that means looking into partnerships that include private money as well as public money, Larson said.
Asked about other issues important to Boundary-Similkameen, she suggests there is no overriding local issue. Rather, each community has its own particular concerns.
Water issues and better tourism marketing are important in the Boundary area. In the Okanagan, there’s a desire for better liquor laws to help the wine industry and farmers have specific concerns. Concerns are similar in Similkameen, while Kaleden needs their road rebuilt, she said.
Larson says she’s already very well known in Oliver, the Okanagan and Similkameen because of her municipal background and the numerous local boards and organizations she’s served on. She admits she is less well known in Grand Forks and the eastern part of the riding, but says she’s been over there a few times and will be going back.
Among her experiences, she lists her six years spent as vice chair of the B.C. small business round table, five years on the Junior Achievement B.C. board of directors, and her time as chair of Community Futures at the provincial level as well as in Penticton.
Larson has been a volunteer with Sunnybank Ladies Auxiliary for 24 years, the WOW women’s group for 20 years and she has run a free muffin program at South Okanagan Secondary School in Oliver for the past 12 years.
Even when the writ is dropped and the election is underway, she plans to continue providing muffins.
On Wednesday, April 10, Larson is holding a fundraiser lunch at the Watermark Beach Resort with guest speaker Stockwell Day, the former leader of the Canadian Alliance, former federal Conservative cabinet minister, and former Alberta Treasurer. Following the 11:30 a.m. lunch, Day will come to the official opening of Larson’s campaign office in Oliver.
